Pipe-bending machine



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Patented Mar. 15, 1949 2,464,459 PIPE-BENDING MACHINE George R. Newlon,

Point Pleasant, W. Va., as-

signor to Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia Application October' 31, 1946, Serial No. 706,933

The present invention relates to an improved machine for bending pipes. More particularly, it relates to a compact and portable machine capable of rapidly and accurately imparting the desired bend to pipes in the cold state without the necessity of packing the interior of the pipes. The machine is capable of accommodating pipes having diameters falling within a wide range.

An important object of the invention is to provide a pair of frame plates with the elements of the machine positioned with respect to these plates in a manner to provide a compact machine which is capable of bending pipes of large diameter without danger of harming the machine or injuring the operator.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the making of those changes which are necessary to enable the machine to accommodate pipes of various diameters.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for stripping the pipe from the bending shoe after the bending operation has been completed.

Further objects of the invention will be referred to in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this description, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, of the machine shown in Figure 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 5-5 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a pipe bending shoe; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a pipe bending block.

Upper and lower frame plates 8 and 9, respectively, form the mainframe of the machine. The lower frame plate 9 is provided with supporting legs I0, which are preferably three in number, with one located adjacent the cylinder end of the machine, and two located at the pipe bending end of the machine. These supporting legs are preferably provided with rollers or casters II to facilitate movement of the machine.

A cylinder I2 is positioned,to lie at least partially between the frame plates 8 and 9. The cylinder I2 is secured in position by means of 2 Claims. (Cl. 153-38) A vertical plates I3 and I4 through which the cylinder passes. The plates I3 and I4 are welded or otherwise secured to the plates 8 and 9. As is best shown in Fig. 5, the cylinder I2 is provided 1 with a anged sleeve I5, which is bolted to the vertical plate I4 by means of bolts I6. A piston II is mounted on a piston rod I8 for reciprocation in the cylinder. A cylinder head I9 closes one end of the cylinder I2 and, at the other end, a packing 2U surrounds the piston rod I8. The packing 20 is provided with an adjustable packing gland 2l.

Hydraulic pressure for forcing the piston and piston rod in a direction to bend pipe, as hereinafter described, is supplied to the cylinder I2 through a conduit 22 and hydraulic pressure 'for retracting the piston and p-iston rod after bending of the pipe has been completed is supplied to the cylinder through a conduit 23 attached to the flanged sleeve I5 at the opposite end of the cylinder.

Hydraulic pressure is supplied by a pump 24, which is preferably a reversible fiow pump of the multi-plunger type which provides an even and easily controlled rate of delivery. The pump 24 is driven by a suitable electric motor 25 and the direction and rate of delivery of the pump is controlled by a hand lever 25. A fluid reservoir 2 is provided. The pump 24, the motor 25, and the reservoir 21 are mounted on the upper frame plate 8. Except for the fact that the hydraulic pressure supplying elements are mounted on the upper frame plate, they may be varied in any appropriate manner, as will be app-arent to those skilled in the art. For this reason, a more detailed description of the fluid pressure supplying means is not believed to be necessary.

The lower frame plate 9 is wider at the pipe bending end of the machine, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5, and is provided with a plurality of complementary pairs of apertures, all Y of these apertures being designated by the ref-A erence numeral 28. The apertures 28 lie in a pair of lines extending at approximately to each other, with each line lying at approximately 45 to the longitudinal center line of the machine. A reinforcing bar 29 is secured beneath the lower frame plate 9 adjacent each of the rows of apertures 2B and the bars 29 are provided with apertures which coincide with the apertures 28. These bars 25 serve to reinforce the plates and to provide greater bearing surface for the pins, presently to be described. The upper frame plate 8 also diverges at the pipe bending end of the machine, as illustrated in Figure 1. Theextreme leftward end of the upper frame plate (as viewed in Figure 1) is provided with a notch 3U, which enables an operator to see the pipe during the bending operation. The upper frame plate is also provided with a plurality of apertures 3l, which occupy positions corresponding to those of the apertures 28 in the lower` frame plate 9. A reinforcing bar 32 is secured to the upper frame plate adjacent each row of apertures 3l and serves the same function as reinforcing bar 29 on the lower frame plate.

Fig. '7 illustrates one of the pipe bending blocks. This bending block is designated gene-rally by the reference numeral 33. It has the general shape of a roller and is provided with a longitudinal bore 34 for receiving block pins 35 which extend through the upper frame plate 8, the bore 3d, and the lower frame plate S to secure the pipe bending blocks in appropriate position. Each bending block 33 is provided with three pipe engaging faces, only two of which are visible in Fig. 7. Each pipe engaging face is designed to accommodate a pipe of a particular diameter. For example, the pipe engaging face 3G may be dirnensioned to accommodate a pipe oi two inch outside diameter, while the` pipe engaging face 3'! may be designed to accommodate a pipe having an outside diameter of `two and one-half inches. The third pipe engaging face, which is not visible in Fig. 7, could, for example, be designed to accommodate pipes having one and one-half inch outside diameter. The pipe bending blocks 3S are provided in identical pairs and the machine is ordinarily furnished with suiiicient pairs of bending blocks of varying sizes to accommodate any diameter of pipe which is likely to be bent by the machine. By limiting each bending block to three pipe engaging faces, it is possible to make these faces long enough to provide adequate contact area with the pipe to prevent deformation of the pipe and to assure that the pipe bending blocks will turn on the pins 35 as the pipe is bent.

The outer end of the piston rod i8 is reduced in diameter as indicated at 33 and engages a socket 39 in a pipe bending shoe lii. A pin 6I is used to retain the pipe bending shoe o-n the end of the piston rod. This pin li! is readily removable to permit substitution of a diierent bending shoe. The pipe bending shoe di) is best illustrated in Figs.. and 6. The pipe engaging face of the bending shoe, designated by the reference numeral ft2, is shaped to engage approximately half of the circumference of the pipe being bent. This insures against attening of the pipe during the bending operation and eliminates the necessity for packing the interior of the pipe. The length of the pipe engaging face 42 lies on an arc which constitutes approximately one-fourth part of a circle. Each bending shoe is designed to accommodate pipes of a particular o-utside diameter, and a separate shoe is provided for each diameter of pipe which is likely to be operated upon by the machine.

The bending slices di) are provided with three supporting lugs G3 which rest and slide upon the lower frame plate S during operation of the machine. These supporting lugs are so proportioned that the bending shoe can be placed on the lower frame plate 9 and the bending shoe will be at the proper height for ready engagement of the socket 39 with the end 38 of the piston rod IB. This greatly facilitates interchange of the bending shoes, since such shoes are ticularly when designed for use with pipes of large diameter.

rather heavy, Dar- The upper frame plate 8 is also provided with two rows of aligned apertures d4, and the lower frame plate 9 is provided with similarly disposed apertures IE5. The apertures dd and d5 are arranged to receive pipe stripping pins 48, which are effective to strip bent pipe from the pipe engaging face d2 of a bending shoe lil upon retraction of the piston rod i8.

The outer end of the piston rod i8 is provided with a pointer 47, which cooperates with a scale 48 mounted on the lower frame plate By means of this pointer and scale, the operator can obtain a direct reading of the angle which has been imparted to the pipe at any instant during the operation of the machine.

The operation of the machine will now be described. At the beginning of the operation, the piston il' and the piston rod i8 will be retracted into the cylinder l2. The operator may, for example, desire to bend a pipe having a three-inch outside diameter. He selects a pair of bending blocks 33, each of which has one pipe engaging face adapted for use with a three-inch pipe. The bending blocks are positioned between the upper and lower frame plates. A bending block pin 35 is passed through one of the holes 3i in the upper .frame plate 3. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that each of the apertures 3l has indicia associated therewith to indicate the diameter of pipe for which each particular hole is appropriate. In the assumed instance, the operator passes a pin 35 through an aperture 3|, which is appropriate for use with a three-inch pipe and the pin is extended through the bore 34 of the bending block and through the corresponding aperture 28 in the lower frame plate. Each bending block is thus appropriately positioned. A bending shoe, having pipe engaging face d2 appropriate for use with a pipe having a three-inch diameter, is placed on the lower frame plate 9 and is supported by the supporting legs 413. By sliding the pipe bending shoe di) along the lower frame plate, it is a 'simple matter to position the socket 39 on the reduced end 38 of the piston rod I 8. The pin 4| is then inserted to secure the bending shoe on the pisto-n rod.

The pipe which it is desired to bend is then inserted horizontally between the upper and lower frame plates and between the outer end of the -bending shoe 40 and the bending block 33. The

stripping pins d6 are inserted in apertures 44 and d5 so as not to interfere with the bending of the pipe.

The motor 25 is started and the operator manipulates the leveri in a manner to cause the pump 24 to supply hydraulic pressure to the cylinder i2 through the pine 22, to cause the piston l?, the piston rod i8, and the bending shoe 4B to move to the left (as viewed in Figs. 1, 3 and 5). The operator watches the pointer lll and the scale 4b and as soon as the desired bend has been imparted to the pipe, the leitward movement of the bending shoe is halted. IThe lever 255 is nextv 'As the bending shoe is retracted, the pipe will engage the pipe stripping pins 43 and will be disengaged from the pipe engaging face 42 of the bending shoe di). The bent pipe is then withdrawn from the machine.

I have illustrated and described what I now consider to be the preferred embodimentl of my machine. However, it will be obvious that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the invention as defined by the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A pipe bending machine comprising upper and lower horizontally extending and vertically spaced frame plates, a cylinder, piston and piston rod assembly mounted between said frame plates for horizontal reciprocation oi' the piston rod between said frame plates, fluid pressure supplying means, a pipe bending shoe horizontally slid- -able on said lower frame plate and provided with attaching means positioned and arranged for attachment to and detachment from the outer end of said piston rod while said shoe is supported by said lower frame plate, pipe bending blocks positioned between said frame plates on opposite sides of the path of movement of said shoe, said blocks being secured in position by pins extending through said upper and lower frame plates and through the blocks, each of said blocks having three pipe engaging faces arranged to accommodate pipes of different diameters and the blocks being rotatable on said pins to selectively position the appropriate pipe engaging faces for contact with the pipe to be bent, stripping pins for stripping bent pipe from said bending shoe positioned between said frame plates on opposite sides of the path of travel of said bending shoe and between said bending blocks and said cylinder, and control means for supplying iiuid pressure from said supplying means to said cylinder to move said bending shoe between said bending blocks to bend pipe and for supplying fluid pressure to said cylinder to retract said bending shoe between said stripping pins to strip bent pipe from said bending shoe.

2. A pipe bending machine comprising upper and lower horizontally extending and vertically spaced frame plates, a cylinder, piston and piston rod assembly mounted between said frame plates for horizontal reciprocation of the piston rod between said irame plates, iiuid pressure supplying means, a pipe bending shoe slidably supported on said lower frame plate, said shoe being provided with attaching means positioned for attachment to and detachment from the outer end of said piston rod while said shoe is supported by said lower frame plate, pipe bending blocks positioned between said frame plates on opposite sides of the path of movement of said shoe, said blocks being secured in position by pins extending through said upper and lower frame platesand through the blocks, control means for supplying fluid pressure from said supplying means to said cylinder to move said bending shoe between said bending blocks to bend pipe and for supplying fluid pressure to said cylinder to retract said bending shoe, a scale on said lower frame plate and a pointer carried by said piston rod for indicating on said scale the degree of bend imparted to a pipe.

GEORGE R. NEWLON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,170,227 Eaton Feb. 1, 1916 1,559,454 Pritner et al Oct. 27, 1925 1,865,025 Lidseen June 28, 1935 2,018,040 Sweeney Oct. 22, 1935 2,382,266 Simonsen Aug. 14, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 264,275 Great Britain June 20, 1927 

